A lifestyle block on the outskirts of Hamilton sold in an “as is, where is” condition for $1.4 million at a marathon mortgagee auction this week.
More than 50 bids were made over 40 minutes at the Harcourts sale, with two phone bidders competing hard to own the seven-bedroom property on Houchens Road, in Glenview.
The final sale price was $830,000 below the property’s RV of $2.23m.
Harcourts auctioneer Campbell Scott said most of the people who had expressed interest in the property were from Hamilton.
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“It’s a fair assumption that mortgagee sales always attract people who think that they might buy the house for less than otherwise it might be worth.”
The house appeared to be well presented so there was potentially room for the buyer to add value or make some gains from it as the market turned, he said.
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OneRoof records show the Houchens Road property was bought in 2015 for $250,000 and that a home was built on the land in January 2016, with further consents issued for the property eight months later.
The auction for the property had initially been scheduled for early July but had been delayed by two weeks.
Harcourts listing agent David Forster earlier told OneRoof it was “relatively unusual” for higher-end lifestyle properties to be sold by mortgagee sale with homeowners often selling up before the lender got involved.
The last time he sold a lifestyle property as a mortgagee sale was “at least several years ago”.
The Houchens Road home was built in 2016 and includes two living areas, a modern kitchen and a scullery. Photo / Supplied
Scott said while the number of houses by mortgagee sale was in line with previous years, there was a general expectation they were on the rise. “The cycle that we are in in the market has been carrying on a lot longer than perhaps people anticipated, we thought the interest rates might have come down by now so I can see why there’s that sentiment that people are struggling and we are going to see more of these.”
The large number of properties for sale was also driving agents to lean heavily on the seller’s motivation and urgency in the marketing to try and appeal to buyers. Some sellers were also selling before the bank forced them to, he said.
“Rather than just ‘vendor must sell’ they are actually going into ‘vendor has bought a retirement home’ or ‘vendor is moving to Tauranga’.
“It’s a smart play because buyers want to work with vendors who are genuinely motivated to sell so if you have a good reason to sell then let the buyers know it.”
A property at 576 River Road, in Fairfield, is also being sold due to financial pressure. “Forced Sale, Financial Stress!”, the listing for the property stated. “Due to a negative change in financial circumstances our vendor must now sell her home, leaving the door wide open for you to buy in what is arguably one of Hamilton’s most sought after locations.”
A second two-bedroom, one-bathroom dwelling on the lifestyle block was marketed at extended families or people wanting a home and income property. Photo / Supplied
The Houchens Road home is one of two high-end properties to be sold in a mortgagee sale so far this year. Last week an unfinished home on one of Hamilton’s wealthiest streets sold for more than $2m at a mortgagee sale. The exact sale price cannot be disclosed until after settlement.
A private lender forced the sale of the River Road property before the elaborate build was completed.
Bayleys listing agent Michael Parker earlier told OneRoof that the property was about three-quarters completed and an estimated $500,000 was needed to finish the high spec riverside property on River Road, in Queenwood. The home was a bare shell and had a long list of things it needed including a kitchen, two bathrooms, lighting and flooring to make it liveable.
Parker said there had been a lot of interest in the build which had attracted a mix of buyers ranging from builders to homeowners. The new owner was a local homeowner who planned to complete the build, he said.
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